Chapter 16: Death
"The Silph Tribe?"
Will couldn't believe these people were so insane. To be blunt, not just Pokémon, but humans too, could not afford to lose the forest. And yet, these people had set it on fire without a second thought. Either they were truly mad, or they were confident they could stop the fire from spreading, or even extinguish it entirely.
"They must have found out Liz is here! It's okay, as long as they see Liz run in a different direction, they won't hurt you, Goldie! You guys have to run!" Liz finished speaking and immediately turned, intending to run towards the Silph tribesmen. The child planned to lead them away and naively believed she could actually escape.
"Wally, Milly, take everyone and flee to the middle ring of the forest. Wait for me to come back."
Will scanned the forest ahead, then snatched up Liz, who was already starting to scramble away. The number of people they had sent was far greater than what they could see. No matter which direction Liz ran, she would not be able to escape.
Looks like this was planned. Were we discovered sometime in the last few days? Will had a rough idea of what was happening. The Silph Tribe was too well-prepared for this to be a coincidence.
"Goldie? Why are you holding me? Why aren't you leaving?" Liz struggled as she saw the figures of the Silph tribesmen drawing closer. She grew even more panicked when she saw Wally and Milly obeying Will's orders and heading deeper into the forest, while Will himself seemed to have been left behind.
Could it be... Could Goldie have broken with his own family and partners for my sake?!
An overwhelming sense of gratitude filled Liz's heart, and fat tears began to stream down her face.
"...What is this kid imagining now?" Will thought. The smoke wasn't thick enough to be making her eyes water yet. But he had no time to ponder such things. He clutched Liz, shot straight up into the sky, and flew out over the top of the forest.
He was going to carry Liz over Mt. Silver and get her back to the vicinity of the Dragonite Tribe.
"Don't! Goldie, don't fly so high! They have arrows!" Liz's face went pale when she saw Will fly so high into the open sky.
"What? How far can humans shoot arrows? They can't possibly hit us from this height," Will shook his head, thinking Liz was worrying too much. A Beedrill's speed stat wasn't exceptionally high, but it could fly, and he was no ordinary Beedrill. In this Tribal Period of the Era of Primal Beasts, human weaponry was likely limited to bows, crossbows, and spears, right? That shouldn't pose a threat to him.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! xN
Just as he was thinking this, a multitude of sharp, whistling sounds shot up from below. He instinctively looked down. A dozen iron-tipped arrows were heading straight for them.
"?!"
Will's face fell. He clutched Liz and abruptly accelerated, narrowly dodging the arrows.
How are they so fast?! Not even a crossbow should have that kind of power!
Will frowned and looked down. What he saw through a gap in the canopy below left him stunned. These primitive humans weren't using crossbows; they were using the even more ancient bow!
Can a human fire an arrow like that with just a bow? The question filled his mind. He had no time to think. He flew towards the outside of the forest at full speed. He realized he had severely underestimated the humans of the Pokémon world. More accurately, he had underestimated the humans of the Era of Primal Beasts.
Dammit, how could I forget? The fact that humans could suppress and command Pokémon with military force in the later Kingdom Period means they must have been incredibly strong. And that's not even counting the existence of special ability users, like those with Aura or psychic powers.
Will suddenly regretted sending Wally and Milly away. He had thought he could handle it all on his own, that a larger group would just be a bigger target. But now it seemed he had made a fatal error in judgment.
But there was no turning back. The Silph Tribe had locked onto them. If they turned back now, the fire would only spread deeper into the forest, and countless weak Pokémon would die.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Another volley of countless arrows shot towards them. Will weaved left and right in the air, carrying Liz. Fortunately, a child didn't weigh much and didn't affect his flight speed too badly. Moreover, Liz wasn't screaming or struggling in a panic. Instead, she was calmly telling him where the people below were, and when they were attacking.
The flight out of the forest was fraught with peril, but they made it without injury. Yet Will's expression was anything but relieved. He had fallen into a situation with a wolf at his back and a tiger at his front.
"PIDGEOT!!!"
Ahead of them, a Pidgeot with a 3-meter wingspan swooped in. It clearly intended to make a meal out of this big, fat bug. The Pidgeot was also startled when it first saw Will; living on the plains, it had never seen such a gigantic insect. But after its initial shock, it grew eager, its eyes glinting with a vicious light. How could it possibly let such a plump meal that had delivered itself to its doorstep get away?
"Goldie! What do we do!" Liz had obviously noticed their hopeless situation. A massive Pidgeot blocked their path in the air, while thirty or forty burly humans were in hot pursuit on the ground below.
Is this how it ends? Will no longer knew what to do.
"PIDGEOT!!"
The Pidgeot in front attacked first. It used a combination of Agility and Wing Attack, striking Will from above. The Flying-type move dealt massive damage to him. The blow left Will dizzy and disoriented, and he began to plummet towards the grasslands below, still clutching Liz.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
As if things weren't bad enough, another dozen arrows shot up from below. The Pidgeot flew back, narrowly dodging them. It looked between Will and the dozens of humans, let out a frustrated cry, and then flew away.
"Goldie! Dodge!" Liz's anxious voice cried out.
But Will's body felt like it was falling apart, aching all over.
That Pidgeot must be at least Lv. 40... Will cursed his bad luck. Even with a type disadvantage, one hit shouldn't have injured him this badly. If that Pidgeot had hit him one more time, he would likely be on the brink of death.
Though, he was pretty much there already.
He used all his strength to dodge left and right in mid-air, but his movements were no longer as agile. Now, without the forest canopy to obstruct the archers' view... three more arrows pierced his body. One went through a wing. Another shattered one of his thin, brittle legs. The last one struck him directly in the abdomen, the arrowhead embedding itself deep inside.
I'm going to die...
Will's vision went black. He couldn't hold on any longer and plunged headfirst towards the ground. But even as his consciousness faded, he instinctively flapped his wings a couple of times to cushion their fall.
He and Liz landed together, rolling across the grass.
They're here... This child is probably going to die here too.
Hearing the sound of many footsteps approaching, Will no longer had the strength to struggle. It was a shame. Liz was just an eight or nine-year-old girl, and her young life was about to be cut short here.
As for him...
"Goldie, why did you do it...? Their target was me. You should have just thrown me away, right?" Liz's choked sobs were endless. She pushed at Will's body. Even a child could understand that his injuries were fatal. Her tribe had no medicine man skilled enough to heal such wounds.
How could I ever do something like abandon a kid? Back in high school, my friends would have looked down on me for doing something like that...
As his consciousness dissipated, all sorts of random thoughts began to surface in Will's mind. Thinking and thinking... he finally remembered.
He wasn't a Beedrill at all. He was just an ordinary young man who had just come of age.
Being a Beedrill... isn't fun at all.
I wish I had been reborn in the Era of Leagues. At least then it wouldn't have been so hard.
...Or maybe, I was just looking for a reason to die...